AI is changing a lot of things in our world. Some changes have been helpful for sharing about persecuted Christians—making it easier to create pictures, music, videos, and presentations. Other changes have been less helpful, including making it easier for hostile government agents to hack computer systems and obtain information about persecuted Christians.

By the grace of God and through our IT consultant, we have been able to stay ahead of such attempts and have been able to keep our information secure. Nevertheless, we constantly prepare for cybersecurity threats.

Hacking attempts are the main AI-related challenges we expected to have as technology advances. But there’s another AI-related challenge we weren’t as prepared for: rising semiconductor costs.

Semiconductors are used in computers and processors, mobile devices, solar panels, LED lighting, and even automobiles. Over half of the world’s memory chips are produced in South Korea. But increased demand for processors used for AI development has shifted resources toward processor production instead of memory chips. This has driven up the price of internal memory, hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, and similar components.

These are the very components that our North Korean Bible devices are made of. The increased cost makes it difficult for us to purchase and distribute the same number of devices that we’ve done in previous years.

But we give the Lord thanks that we are on track to distribute a similar number to last year.

We’ve done our best to stay ahead of the curve, working with various suppliers to ensure solid functionality at the lowest possible prices. We were also very strategic and selective about what kind of Bible devices we distributed in different situations.

To put it plainly: every price increase forces us to decide between fewer devices or a smarter way to build and deploy them.

The goal is not just to reach a number. It’s to make sure each gift turns into usable Scripture in someone’s hands, without waste, without avoidable risk, and without losing momentum as costs rise. This is why we keep our process as tight as possible on multiple fronts. We standardize a small number of reliable device types, buy components in larger batches when timing is favorable, and test content loads carefully so devices don’t fail in the field.

Please keep praying for protection for our partners and for the underground believers who receive these materials—especially as surveillance increases and supply costs fluctuate. Pray for wisdom as we purchase, prepare, and distribute devices, and that the Lord would open the right doors at the right time for safe delivery. We’re grateful for what has already been accomplished this year, and we’re asking the Lord for wisdom, provision, and teamwork to continue the year well.